Currently, building fire detection systems allow building managers to detect an emergency condition using installed smoke alarms and pull stations which allow both manual and automatic detection of a fire condition. Once a fire or emergency condition is detected, fire alarms or other alerts signal building occupants to either evacuate or shelter in place. However, current building evacuation systems have static evacuation plans that cannot be changed to reflect the realities of an emergency situation. These plans usually involve the building occupants proceeding directly to the nearest building exit, or in multi-story buildings, stairwells leading to the nearest building exit. One major problem with this is that a fire can in theory occur anywhere, including on an evacuation route. In this case, a pre -rehearsed evacuation route can actually put evacuees in greater danger. Another issue is that the location of building occupants may not be accurately known. Yet another issue is that the precise location and nature of an emergency condition may not be immediately known. For example, fire alarms can be activated manually, and the location of the fire alarm, i.e. pull station that was activated gives an indication that the emergency condition is occurring in the vicinity of that particular alarm, but does not localize the source with any accuracy, nor does it indicate the exact nature of the emergency condition. Similarly, detectors that automatically alert in the presence of smoke are strong indicators that a fire is present, but do not permit the location of the fire to be determined precisely, since smoke can travel for some distance in a building before being detected.